Inside England's most ambitious new vineyard: could it produce sparkling wine to beat champagne?

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... and will Sussex ever challenge Champagne as the best sparkling-wine producer in the world? One couple has gambled millions that it will, and Bollinger is already sniffing around their South Downs vinesCredit:
Jason Larkin

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This piece by was originally published in April 2018, and has been republished following the news that80 new English vineyards opened last year, driven by growing demand and funded by bankers’ bonuses, according to a new report by chartered accountants Hacker Young. The figure was a record for a single year and up by 25 per cent on the year before.

Mark Driver has the relaxed demeanour of an English gentleman most at ease when he’s in charge. He needs it. With his wife, Sarah, he is the owner of Rathfinny Wine Estate, England’s most ambitious vineyard set-up to date. Over the past eight years, he’s overseen four building projects that, he says, ‘make Grand Designs look like a sideshow’. He’s...